250 Words: RedBud

GYTR (Genuine Yamaha Technology Racing) is Yamaha’s performance and racing accessory brand. GYTR products are developed and tested to the highest standards by Yamaha’s in-house factory engineers. Used extensively by the Yamaha Race Teams, these factory parts are readily available to every Yamaha rider.

How many times over the years have we seen a rider finally break through and get his first win, then immediately stack up a second one at the following race? It’s like once a rider finds his way to the winner’s circle, getting back there just seems a lot easier. Such has been the case with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer, who, after winning at Thunder Valley seven days earlier, returned to the top of the podium at Red Bud, albeit with unlikely 2-4 moto scores.

Weimer got some help in the form of two big crashes, first by series points leader Christophe Pourcel in the first turn of the first moto, and then by new series points leader Ryan Dungey in the second moto, whose flip up and over the handlebars was as bizarre as it was spectacular. He kept his hands on the bars all the way over, yet he could not hold on to the points lead, which went back to Monsieur Pourcel.

Which brings me to this: Pourcel and Dungey are having mirror-image seasons. They each won a Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship in the Lites class, they went 1-2 at the East-West Shootout in Las Vegas, and they were trading moto wins and overall wins (at least until Weimer found that map). They are handing the points lead back and forth to one another, peppering those wins with big (or early) crashes. And both are destined to have immediate impacts in the 450 class, Dungey next year, and possibly Pourcel, though he has another year on his PC contract.

So who will emerge as champion here? After six rounds of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, it’s still too close to call. But remember this: as soon as someone else finds that map to the winner’s circle—Tommy Searle, Brett Metcalfe, and Justin Barcia seem capable of doing it at any moment—this could get even more interesting.